gotta love the drag! /i wore the hair off the last kill i made getting it out of the woods
/ says i---------- only kill close to road , only kill small!
anything i kill i'm damn glad i killed it- food protection or combination of both.

Congrats.  I get what you were saying.  Nothing wrong with that either.

Congratulations, Pat! That was a good practice run, when are you going back out?

Killdeer  

Looks like a pretty good shot to me.  :-D

Congrats!

 

Based on the Bill and Guru's posts, maybe I am being a little hasty on the blood trail judgement.

Kathy,  I went out again yesterday afternoon and saw some, but no shooting.  I had to watch a friend's dog this morning, but I'm going out again this afternoon.

pharcher:  There was a decent amount of blood in the chest cavity, but you'd be surprised.  Even though I went through a piece of liver, there wasn't a drop that i could find in the abdominal cavity.  Weird.  I must not have severed any major vessels in the small piece of liver and the deer died quickly enough that there wasn't time for much of a bleed out there.

Nice job! Congrats!!      

I agree on the blood trail comments.  After a 50 yard track job I wouldn't go changing heads.  The deer was barely alive a few sconds after the shot so it didn't have much time to leave a blood trail anyhow.

Either way that's a great buck and unfortunate u didn't get the one u were after.  But on the bright side, he will be bigger next year!!

QuoteOriginally posted by Guru:
Congrats!

My take on the perceived "lack of blood" for what it's worth....

 You had a high entrance, and even though the exit was low, it came out pretty far forward where there is a lot of shoulder muscle and skin overlaping and misaligning the wound channel with every move...hence the spotty bloodtrail.

Bingo!

When the exit wound is through the shoulder muscle, you may not have much blood coming out on that side. As the deer moves, the muscles close off the lung blood. You'll still get muscle blood out that side, but you may not have the normal "lung spray" you'd see from an exit wound in the chest where the only thing the blood needs to get through is rib muscle and skin.

Still, it's a great exit for a quartering away shot, and still one that should yield more than sufficient sign.

I've had some sparse blood trails that I might have given up on a particular broadhead.... but it didn't take long to realize that it isn't the broadhead, it's the path of the arrow. I've had the same broadhead make a huge blood trail on some kills and others nearly nothing. I've had deer down in less than 50 yards and some as far as 200 yards (they can run a long ways in 5-10  seconds), same thing... not the broadhead, but the path of the arrow.

Nice deer, btw!!  

Great Buck Pat. Congrats

Now you'll have a belly full of venison when you're out hunting the 9 point!

What a deal!

Nice going!...Better shooting!!!

I think if you did some research on how that head it made, you will find your answer on why it didn't bleed more on that perfect shot.

Not trying to start anything, but being informed can prevent heartache.

just a suggestion- change BH's.  Think you will pleasantly surprised with the blood you will have from the same hit with a different BH.  I have suggestions PM me if you want.

Still a good hunt with a good ending.congrats.

Pat that deer didn't have time to bleed. It probably made the 50 yards in 2 seconds. My last three deer were heart shots with very little blood, since the deer went no more than 60 yards in seconds. One though was quartering more than I though and the broadhead sliced the rib cage before entering and exited low in the chest right in front of the sternum. That deer a blind squirrel could have followed. I think for a good blood trail in a short distance you need the exit hole to be near the bottom of the chest. Even a few inches high in the chest can hold the blood within 50 yards, especially since they are moving at light speed.

Nice deer and good shot. I wish this Jersey boy would get a shot. I want to try out the Abowyer Brown Bears this year.

Gil

Congrats on that deer and the early morning recovery.  I have some of those heads in 100 grain and will send em to you if you want em.
Personally I did not care for them when I was shooting wheelies.  I like the mechanical advantage of the longer heads and the longer tapered ferrule.

Nice shot! Congrats!